Powder Command

  • wecklos
    9th Nov 2014 Member 1 Permalink

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    This a fun idea that I've had for a while, not really meant as a serious suggestion. It is a complete overhaul of TPT's system, making it more of a survival/building/battle game, akin to Terraria, starbound,  Liero and Cortex Command. However, it still would have the building and engineering and chemistry aspects of TPT.

    I'm not even sure the modifications I have in mind will even work (I know very little about programming), but here goes. Some of this is a bit of a mess.

     

    Actors-

     

    So, first off, character models, movement, etc. TPT has stickmen and fighters. The really simple armless design of both is very cute and memorable, in my opinion. It would be cool to have the same base model (with arms), but they can be modified (given armor plates, etc.). They would have vector/digital brush art projected onto TPT's bitmap. Perhaps there are several different factions, Cortex Command style. There could be a war-based faction, building-based faction, etc.

    Actor movement would be fixed, too. They wouldn’t move as fast as in the original powder toy, and new movement capabilities would be added such as crouching or going prone. They will also have more mass, so not everything passes through them.

     

    Weapons-

     

    Weapons would fire different types of energy- Metal+EMBR for shell-based weaponry, PLSM, FIRE, advanced particle weapons that fire super accelerated/heated subatomic particles (NEUT, PROT, ELEC), Thunder or lighting guns (tesla), Grenade launchers (BOMB, DEST, FIRW, FWRK), napalm (new element?), acid, antimatter, WARP, photons (lasers or particlized photons (hardlight)), or more exotic energy types like gravity, air, freeze powder, liquid nitrogen, flesh-eating nanobots, ice crystals, whatever. Sizes/calibers of weapons would be pistols, shotguns, rifle, assualt rifle, submachine gun, sniper rifle, launcher, grenade launcher, all with heavy or light forms. Grenades can also be made.

     

    Vehicles-

     

    Vehicles, a whole new thing. Build your own vehicles, perhaps incredibots style (layers, axles). Vehicles are also vector-based, like character models. Solids move (sorry), using vectors, theoretically, allowing you to build your vehicle out of any material. You could link certain functions to keys, like a dropship with an opening door. Thrusters on ships would be based on movement of particles or air, so you can also design your own engines and experiment with fuel and size and such.

     

    Elements-

     

    Many of the elements would still be implemented with their usual abilities, perhaps buffed or relaxed to make the world more fair and less dangerous for players (stickmen and fighters are rather fickle in that they die during the tiniest of disturbances)

    -Landmass: These elements are like solids from the original Powder Toy. They are not affected by gravity unless melted/disintegrated. Dirt, stone, quartz, etc.

    -Powder: Powder comes in two main forms; the normal kind such as sand, and the stackable kind, like concrete. Same as the originals pretty much.

    -Solids: Solids come in subtypes;

     

    -spring, which can bend somewhat but spring back into shape (plant, wood). Wood can snap if pushed with enough force.

     

    -string, which acts just like…string, used in ropes and pulley systems (rope, metal cable)

     

    -normal solids, which move using a vector system. The only problem I can foresee about this vector system is that the number of bits in a particular bar of solid material will change depending on its orientation, so small intricate machinery aboard vehicles might glitch out when the orientation changes, pixel would disappear. Perhaps the math could be tweaked to compensate for elements that are actually there, but are not displayed on screen, if that makes any sense. TPT seems to have the ability to store multiple bits in a single pixel space, like when a PROT passes through an element, so this might not be too hard to implement. Again, I know very little about programming, so I could be totally wrong.

     

    -energy, such as plasma, fire, radioactive elements like antimatter, WARP, protons.

     

    -liquids

     

    -gases. Toxic gases could be found near volcanoes or in caves with volcanic vents. Yeah, this has been suggested before on here.

     

    Indestructible elements would become destructible. Stronger alloys could be crafted or smelted by the player, and do not occur in nature unless found in an ancient alien stronghold of some kind. Other structures could be found around the world, yielding new elements, weapons, and equipment.

    Elements could be picked up/placed using particle storing guns.

     

    Tools-

     

    Tools would include the Particle storing gun, gravity gun, grappling hook (swing or climb), jetpack or other personal propulsion system, pressurized air gun, harpoon (latches onto stuff), shield (made of any metal)

     

    Crafting-

     

    Crafting is all done in your inventory, on some separate screen. You can create new advanced elements like refined deuterium (!set life deut), alloys like steel or carbon nanotubes.

     

    Gameplay-

     

    You start in a procedurally generated world, with nothing but a particle storing gun. You explore ancient structures across the world, massive caves, spaceship wrecks, stuff like that. Fight enemies; aliens, ancient alien guardians (forerunner-like), and fighters/pirates that appear on ships. Fighters and guardians are the most valuable enemies as they yield new weapons and tools and such.

    All of the building elements from the powder toy you know and love are still in, except you build them with the ingame character, making massive structures or machines very impressive to create (however, perhaps there is a creative mode). There could be a merchant ships that lands occasionally and trades with you, or sells stuff for gold.

    This gameplay basis adds a plethora of online possibilities, massive battles, capture the flag, faction war, casual build/survival, all kinds of stuff. Imagine gathering the materials by hand to build a rocket propelled nuclear warhead, and launching it into your enemy's castle during a long lasting faction war. I can't imagine anything more satisfying. Or, imagine creating a sustainable energy system to give your faction limitless electricity to build whatever variety of machines they please. (BTRY and similar substances would only be available in creative mode)

     

     

    ..Well, there you go. Powder Command, I like to call it. Again, this is just an idea I wanted to share, I have very little programming knowledge so some of my assumptions about the engine(s) may be off, but I thought this was a pretty neat idea. And I am sorry if this is some sort of heresy suggesting such a massive overhaul of TPT's game mechanics. Obviously this adds a new depth of combat not seen in the original, but at its core, my idea still has TPT's creative potential.

    Thoughts?

     

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  • bowserinator
    9th Nov 2014 Member 2 Permalink

    Nice, however it probably will only be implemented (if at all) in a mod. Also the world would have to be small because of the way TPT caculates stuff

  • jward212
    9th Nov 2014 Member 0 Permalink

    I've done some stkm type elements in my mods like stkm gun lua script. also some other user's stkm portal, stkm gets a portal gun!!!

     

    metl is steel, mix coal with molten iron

     

    as for crafting TPT has reactions allowing you to build complex machines that do this...

     

    minny craft is a 2.5D version of MC and all of the above games are some what realated to MC.  so there is no need for more like them

    Edited 3 times by jward212. Last: 9th Nov 2014
  • jacob1
    9th Nov 2014 Developer 0 Permalink
    You basically suggested another game .-. Although I didn't really read it, just skimmed over it. If someone wants to take the effort to add all these things maybe they could, although it's a lot and I haven't seen anyone willing to do all these.

    But things like actors, weapons, and vehicles I don't think we need ...
  • zBuilder
    9th Nov 2014 Member 1 Permalink

    it sounds cool. would it be,sort of like a 2D minecraft?

  • bowserinator
    9th Nov 2014 Member 0 Permalink

    yeah. true

  • zBuilder
    9th Nov 2014 Member 0 Permalink

    well there's so many changes there's no way for it to possibly merge with the original without replacing a lot of the things that make it what it is now.

    adding onto the particle system to make a whole other game seems like it would be the target- unless I misinterpet the author's goal?

  • greymatter
    9th Nov 2014 Member 0 Permalink
    @wecklos (View Post)
    This is a totally different game. Most of what you suggested is just impossible to implement the way current TPT works. Not even an overhaul of TPT's current system will work. Probably for something like this you need to start again from scratch......

    So you have an idea for a game, one that can become an international hit if done properly. But it is a far cry from TPT (Pun intended)....
  • boxmein
    10th Nov 2014 Former Staff 0 Permalink
    Haha, so you want to mix Minecraft, a falling sand simulator, Starbound, Garry's Mod, Incredibots and Liero? And you expect it to run on a computer that exists in the next ten years?
    ...I mean it's all possible but it's going to be a Mandelbrot set of issues to get it to run with any sort of concept of speed.
  • randomguy2008
    4th Mar 2021 Member 0 Permalink

    Great idea they should add this

    https://tpt.io/:19500

     
    Edited 2 times by LBPHacker, randomguy2008. Last: 4th Mar 2021
Locked by jacob1: rejected